Metal lip jig rig

ABSTRACT

A metal lip jig threader device for rigging a flexible plastic bait, frozen bait, cut fresh bait, and live bait having a metal lip with one hook on a leader line in one fluid step. Additional dressing such as feathers, fur or hair can be added to the lure. An improved method is shown for making a metallic lipped live or artificial fish lure with at least one hook. An improved metal lip jig is shown having a hook secured by a rivet and spurs.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a division of application Ser. No. 09/855,680 filedMay 16, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,305,118,which claims the benefit ofU.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/233,662, filed Sep. 19,2000.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to fishing jig lures. Morespecifically, the invention is a new device and an improved method formaking a metallic lipped plastic fish lure with at least one hook riggedby a hand held device. A metal lip jig is disclosed for attachingvarious baits.

2. Description of Related Art

The related art of interest is a crowded art, but none discloses thepresent invention. There is a need for a hand device for a fishermanwhich can rig a plastic lure with a metal lip and at least one hookwhile on location. Additionally, as a subcombination, a metal lip jig,per se, for attaching bait is disclosed.

The related art will be discussed in the order of perceived relevance tothe present invention.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,157,859 issued on Oct. 27, 1992, to Clarence L. Wirkusdescribes a cast lead fishing jig comprising an upturned hook portionwith a long shank imbedded in an oval shaped body of cast lead having aconvex upper surface and a concave lower surface. The eye portion of thehook is bent at a right angle to protrude up from the body proximate itsnose. A worm, leech or a plastic wriggler can be attached to theupturned hook portion. The jig is distinguishable for requiring anenvironmentally dangerous lead body made by casting around a bent hook.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,041,540 issued on Mar. 28, 2000, to Carl J. Pottsdescribes an artificial soft plastic fishing lure comprising threethreaded fish strung on one line to simulate a school of bait fish. Afish has artificial eyes, a V-shaped dorsal fin, a dorsal rattle orfish-attracting scent in an elongated dorsal void space, and a ventralY-shaped fiber weed guard. The artificial fishing lure isdistinguishable for its requirement for various adornments.

W.I.P.O. patent application Ser. No. WO/97/09875 published on Mar. 20,1997, for Allen R. McDonald et al. describes a lead sinker coated witheither rubber, plastic or latex and impregnated with fish oils. The leadsinker is distinguishable for being directed to only the lead sinker.

The following remaining references are all directed to the threading ofa worm on a hook by various devices. The patents are distinguishable forbeing limited to worms or fish without metal lips.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,674,220 issued on Jun. 23, 1987, to Ronald H. Bearce,Jr. et al. describes a pocketable worm threading device comprising acylindrical barrel member containing an extendable hollow brass needleand a clipped cap. A live worm is threaded on the extended needle. Ahook on a leader line is placed at the tip of the extended needle andthe worm is threaded onto the leader line. The cap is used to remove ahook from a fish and to aid in tying a hook to a line. The device isdistinguishable for being limited to threading worms onto a leader lineand hook.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,706,403 issued on Nov. 17, 1987, to John L. Reynoldsdescribes a fishing bait threader tool having a bored handle with threeslots to accommodate a hollow needle at one end and a solid needle witha radial arm having a crook portion, a return portion and a forwardextending prong. The tool is distinguishable for its two needle andhandle structures.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,118,881 issued on Oct. 8, 1978, to Douglas A. McFarlanedescribes a method and apparatus for threading worms on fishhookscomprising a rectangular block with various grooves and a hole forinserting part of the worm, threading the worm with a tubing in agroove, and placing the worm upright on the block. A hook is placed onthe tip of the tubing and threaded with the worm. The device isdistinguishable for its structural differences.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,848,019 issued on Jul. 18, 1989, to Paul Toogooddescribes an automatic worm threader comprising an upright hand grippingmember with a right-angled extending member and another upright wormimpaler having a concave end for accommodating the hook. The device isdistinguishable for its unique structure.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,125,180 issued on Jun. 30, 1992, to Gordon G. Deandescribes a fishhook worm baiting tool comprising an elongated L-shapedsolid rod with a blind bore for attaching the hook and a wingnut at theopposite end for securing the leader line in a taut manner for threadingthe worm onto the line and hook. The device is distinguishable for itsdifferent structure.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,915,631 issued on Apr. 10, 1990, to Oscar T. Robinson etal. describes a fishing worm threader device comprising a handle with aprojecting fishing line support with a slit and a hollow tube forthreading the worm. The device is distinguishable for its structure.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,155,930 issued on Oct. 20, 1992, to Faustino Monarezdescribes a worm threading device comprising a hollow handle for storinga live worm and having an arm member at a right angle with a notch forholding the leader line while threading the worm onto the hook placed inthe tip of the hollow shank on the handle. The device is distinguishablefor its arm member and the storage capacity in the handle.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,367,814 issued on Nov. 29, 1994, to Steven H. Petersendescribes an apparatus for baiting a fishing line with a worm comprisinga cylindrical rod having a throughbore and a tube extending to a sharpedge for threading a live worm. A fishing line is threaded from the reelthrough the tube, the impaled worm and the handle to be wound around thehandle. The line is unwound from the device and tied to a hook after theimpaled worm is detached from the apparatus. The apparatus and method ofbaiting are distinguishable for the requirement of threading the linethrough the tube and alongside the tube for impaling the worm andremoving most of the line.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,735,071 issued on Apr. 7, 1998, to David J. Gouldie etal. describes a fishing accessory for threading a worm on a hook andsharpening the hook barb comprising a pen-like assembly with the mainbody being hollow and storing the piercing assembly having a threadedbase. The cap has a sharpening stone and a pocket clip. The worm isthreaded with the hook and line in the usual manner. The fishingaccessory is distinguishable for its storage handle structure.

None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or incombination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a new device and an improved methodof manually making a metal lipped plastic fish lure with at least onehook on a leader line rigged by a novel hand held device. The hand toolhas a telescopic antenna element with an open end and located next to arod element with a right angle bend for holding the metal lip which canhave a hook attached to it. A wooden handle is hollowed out forinsertion of a sharp pointed spike based in a cork. The distal end ofthe handle can have a throughbore for insertion of a cord loop. Themethod of making a hooked and metal lipped lure comprises piercing aplastic lure, e.g., a minnow, with the spike. The prepared leader linehas at least one hook on its end or two hooks in tandem. The piercedplastic minnow is placed on the telescopic antenna element with a smallportion of the end exposed for insertion of the barbed tip of at leastone hook. The opposite end of the leader line has the metal lipconventionally provided with a punched out holder strap and optionally ahook. The fisherman places the metal lip by its holder strap on theextending right angled rod. It is preferred that the length of leaderline from the first hook to the second hook is taut by extending thetelescopic antenna. Then the process of moving the plastic lure up theleader line to the metal lip is performed. The rigged lure can now bereleased from the tool by collapsing the telescopic rod. Asubcombination is a metal lip jig lure, per se, on which either softplastic bait, frozen cut bait, live bait can be hooked or dressedfurther with feathers, fur or animal hair.

Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to provide a handtool that can form a fish lure by adding at least one hook and a metallip attached to a leader and threading a plastic fish lure.

It is another object of the invention to provide a method of producing aflexible plastic lure with a metal lip and hooks by utilizing a novelhand tool.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a combination handtool with a telescopic antenna for holding a lure and a terminal hook,and a separate metal lip holder.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a combination toolhaving a spike in its handle for piercing a plastic lure in preparationfor making the hooked and metal lipped lure.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a subcombination of ametal lip jig lure, per se, on which either soft plastic bait, frozencut bait, live bait can be hooked or dressed further with feathers, furor animal hair.

It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements andarrangements thereof in an apparatus for the purposes described which isinexpensive, dependable and fully effective in accomplishing itsintended purposes.

These and other objects of the present invention will become readilyapparent upon further review of the following specification anddrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is an environmental, perspective view of a metal lip jig rigthreader tool according to the present invention with the telescopingrod in an extended position being used to thread bait on a metal lip jigrig.

FIG. 1B is a perspective view of the metal lip jig rig threader toolaccording to the present invention with the telescoping rod in aretracted position.

FIG. 2 is side elevation view of a plastic minnow threaded with twohooks by the jig rigging tool of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of a metal lip jig rig accordingto the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows and elevation view of a lure having the metal lip jig rigof the present invention and a single hook.

Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistentlythroughout the attached drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

In one aspect, shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the present invention isdirected to a hand tool 10 for rigging a plastic fish lure 12 with ametal lip jig 14 and at least one hook 16. The tool 10 comprises atelescopic antenna-like hollow rod 18 attached to a hollow wooden handle20. The tool 10 has a spike 22 (in dashed lines) with a sharp point 24which is stored in a bore 29 defined in hollow handle 20 when not inuse, a cork plug 26 being used to retain the spike 22 in the handle 20.The cork plug 26 can be frictionally seated at the end 28 of the handle20. The spike 22 may be removed from the handle 20 and mounted in thehollow end of the telescoping rod 18, as shown in FIG. 1B, for forming alongitudinal throughbore 30 in the plastic minnow lure 12. The handle 20also has another throughbore 34 proximate the distal end 28 extendingtransversely through the handle 20, through which a loop of cord 36 isattached. The cord loop 36 can be hung from a fisherman's belt.

The leader line 38 has been pre-rigged with a terminal hook 16 andattached to a metal lip jig 14. A second hook 40 is attached to thepre-fashioned metal lip jig 14 by a rivet 32 and spurs 33 and has apunched out strap 44. A right-angled rod 46 positioned adjacent thetelescopic rod 18 has a rubber collar 48 for conveniently abutting themetal lip 14 or for wrapping line in a slot in the rubber collar 48.

A first outer brass tubing 41 having a closed end 42 fits axially in thehollow wooden handle 20 and extends out from the end of the handle 20opposite the cork 26. A second inner brass tubing 43 fits slidinglyinside the first outer tubing 41 with a wire 45 extending from itsbottom end which rests on the closed end 42 of the first outer tubing 41when the inner tubing 43 is in a retracted position, so that the top endof the tubing does not slide down into the outer tubing 41, but remainsat least one inch above the end of the outer tubing 41. When the spike22 is inserted in the open end 49 of inner tubing 43, a plug 51, e.g. aglue plug, approximately an inch from the open end 49 prevents the spike22 from going further into the second tubing 43, leaving about twoinches of the spike 22 extending from the open end 49 of inner tubing43.

In FIG. 2, the completed lure 50 is depicted with the hooks 16 and 40separated by a hidden leader line 38 formed by the following process.

The process of forming the rigged lure 50 begins with removing the spike22 from the handle 20 and inserting the spike 22 into the open end 49 ofinner tubing 43, the telescoping rod 18 being in a retracted position,as shown in FIG. 1B. A lure or item of bait, such as a plastic minnow12, is inserted longitudinally over the telescoping rod 18, tail end 52first, the pointed end 24 of the spike 22 piercing the minnow anddefining a longitudinal bore 30 in the minnow 12. The minnow 12 isthreaded down over the telescoping rod 18, and the spike 22 is removedfrom the rod 18, leaving a small length of the inner tubing 43 exposed.The barb of the terminal hook 16 is now placed in the open end 49 of thetelescopic rod 18. The metal lip jig rig 14 is attached to theright-angled rod 46 by its punched out strap 44. The telescoping rod 18is moved to the extended position shown in FIG. 1A to stretch the leaderline 38 tight. The plastic lure 12 is now pushed up over hook 16 anddown the leader line 38. The head of the minnow 12 is attached to thesecond hook 40 by sliding the lure over the neck 58 of the metal lip jigrig 14 and piercing the minnow 12 with the barb of second hook 40, andthe base of the tail is attached to the first hook 16 to form thefinished product, i.e., the rigged lure 50. The telescoping rod 18 isretracted, hook 16 is removed from inner tubing 43, and metal lip jig 14is removed from rod 46. This rigging procedure can be performed with theinventive tool by the fisherman while fishing. Thus, an efficient andquick method of rigging a plastic lure with a metal lip and hooks hasbeen shown.

The advantages of this method of rigging a plastic lure with a metal lipare that the weighted lure can be cast, trolled or jigged on the bottom.The hooks are arranged with the barbs up to minimize any snaggingproblems. Any plastic lure can be used, such as fish, crayfish, worms,shrimp, frogs, lizards, hellgrammites, tube tails, grubs, and the like.Even lipped bucktail lures can be made. Spinners can be attached at therivet or the metal lip end. The metal lips can be colored. Live andfrozen bait such as salmon eggs, crayfish, hellgrammites, leeches, nightcrawlers, and nymphs can be incorporated to make these jig lures. Fur,feathers and animal hair can be added as dressing for use with a fly orspinner rod.

One outstanding advantage of this tool 10 is the addition of bait lureto the fish lure 12 by adding a liquid bait lure composition to eitherthe spike 22 or the end of the telescopic rod 18 before moving the lureonto the leader line 38.

In FIG. 3, a metal lipped jig 56 according to the present invention isshown enlarged having a bulbous metal lip portion 14, such as a metallip made from brass coated with nickel, with one strap 44, which ispunched out of the lip or otherwise attached to the lip 14, forattachment to the fishing line, as well as attachment to rod 46 of tool10. An elongated neck portion 58 has a rivet 32 and spurs 33 forfastening second hook 40 securely to the lip portion 14. A terminaleyelet 60 is conveniently provided on the neck portion 58 for attachmentof another trailing hook, if desired, or for tying leader line 38 tometal lip jig 14. Bait such as soft plastic lures, frozen bait, and livebait can be hooked to form a lure approximately 4 inches long. The jig56 can be approximately 1¼ inches long, {fraction (9/16)} inch wide lip14, and ⅛ inch thick. The metal lip portion 14 can be conveniently bentat various angles to control the depth of the lure. Advantageously, themetal lip jig rig 14 eliminates the necessity of using lead weights orsinkers.

The versatility of a single metal lip jig rig device is evident when onerig device can be readily converted into numerous other lures by addingany one of bait lures such as soft plastic, frozen, live, cut, and tiedon flies and streamers. The lures can also be used with various fishingrods such as spinning, fly and bait rods. A foot long trailer linehaving a hook can be attached to the terminal hook 16 for adding salmoneggs, a fly, etc. because the metal lip acts as a sinker withoutrequiring lead weights.

It should be especially noted that the present invention is an ergonomicand environmentally safe alternative to the use of lead jigs being used.

It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to thesole embodiment described above, but encompasses any and all embodimentswithin the scope of the following claims.

I claim:
 1. A metal lip jig comprising: a body consisting of a flat,broad lip portion with a rounded outer edge tapering into a flat, narrowelongated neck portion having parallel opposed sides, the body having anaperture at an end of the neck, the body having a strap punched out fromthe body for receiving a fishing line, said body being made from anon-lead metal; a first fish hook having a shank with an eye definedtherein at a first end of the hook and a barb at an opposite second endof the hook, the shank of the hook being attached to the neck portion ofsaid body, the barb extending below the end of the neck; a rivetinserted through the eye defined in the shank of said hook and through ajunction of the lip portion with the elongated neck portion of saidbody; and a pair of foldable spurs attached to the neck portion, thespurs being folded over the shank of said hook.
 2. The metal lip jigaccording to claim 1, further comprising: a leader line having a firstend and a second end, the first end being attached to the aperture inthe end of the neck; and a second fish hook, the second fish hook beingattached to the second end of said leader line.
 3. The metal lip jigaccording to claim 2, further comprising a bait having a head attachedto said first fish hook, the bait having a body disposed about saidleader line in order to define a lure.
 4. The metal lip jig according toclaim 3, wherein said bait is selected from the group consisting of asoft plastic bait, cut frozen bait, and live bait.
 5. The metal lip jigaccording to claim 3, wherein said bait is selected from the groupconsisting of insects, worms and small fish.
 6. The metal lip jigaccording to claim 1, wherein said body is a metal lip made from nickelcoated brass.